Scottish Labour leader Michael Marra has called for powers to be devolved out of Holyrood and into Scotland's regions, arguing that centralisation is holding back towns and cities. Writing in his regular column for the Record, he said power should be pushed out of Edinburgh and back to local communities.
Skills shortage and economic stagnation
Marra highlighted that half of employers in Scotland report a skills shortage. He pointed to crumbling colleges following years of cuts and reduced spending on apprenticeships. He said centralisation of power and money, along with a lack of progress towards reindustrialisation, is contributing to the problem.
He noted that if Scotland's regions had grown at the same pace as Manchester in the last decade, the Scottish economy would be £30 billion larger. He argued that the SNP's proposed local government reorganisation will not fix this and risks making it worse.
Devolution to regions and communities
Marra said more devolution is needed out of Holyrood and into regions, starting with powers over skills. He cited shipbuilding on the Clyde and the Forth, manufacturing renewable infrastructure in the North East, designing games in Dundee, and producing food and drink in the Highlands and islands as areas of potential that are not being developed.
He said every region should be able to develop the skills plan it needs for the industries of today and tomorrow. He called on the SNP to put control and money in the hands of councils, colleges and industries that know what their local economies need better than any bureaucrat in Edinburgh.
Councils shortchanged by SNP
Marra said the Scottish Government has shortchanged local government for a decade. He said the block grant to Scotland has gone up significantly, but funding to local councils has not increased at the same rate. Had funding for local authorities kept pace with the Scottish block grant, Glasgow City council's budget would be £357 million higher, Edinburgh would be £147 million higher, Aberdeen would be £36 million higher, Dundee would be £70 million higher and Highland council would be £117 million higher.
He said councils control schools, social care, roads and housing, and the failure to pass on funding is affecting these services. He said the promise of devolution was to empower local communities, but instead power and money has increasingly been hoarded at the centre while local services face cuts.
Marra said Scotland risks following a decade of short-changing communities to the tune of £2 billion with a decade of distraction. He said the country should be investing in local services and high streets, not short-changing them.
